“A madman, a Nazi.” Just talking about Vladimir Putin the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky abandon the tools of diplomacy. At the summit of the leaders ofEuropean Union – where 18.1 billion euros were put on the table for Kiev as a European contribution to budgetary, military and reconstruction needs, supported by revenues derived from frozen Russian assets – what is at stake is that of support forUkraine and the realistic prospects of a peace plan, no more, no less. And so the issues can only be those of security guarantees for the attacked country and – with an eye towards the return of Donald Trump at the White House – the crucial one of maintaining unity of purpose between the USA and Europe:
“I believe that European security guarantees will not be sufficient: for us the real guarantee, now or in the future, is the Nato. And NATO depends on the decisions taken by Europeans and Americans”, urges Zelensky. Yes, it is a game in which everyone weighs the moves of others, in a game at the end of which there is the hypothesis of a negotiation where the affirmation of Wednesday by the Ukrainian president on the impossibility of reconquering Crimea and Donbass perhaps detonated a new dynamic.
At the center of the field is, of course, Zelensky himself: “At the Council meeting I underlined that Europe and America must be at the negotiating table when the time comes. The EU, like Ukraine, must participate in the talks from a position of strength. Only coordinated efforts can bring lasting peace, not a pause that Putin would use to buy time”, the Ukrainian president then insisted on peacekeeping, because there is no decision yet: there is some political will and total understanding that Putin will not stop. I can’t talk about it until there is a common European decision.”
It’s a position that Zelensky finds leverage in Donald Tusk: “We all agree that the EU needs the strongest possible relations with the USA to guarantee real security guarantees: most European countries are aligned – assures the Polish Prime Minister –. It is essential that the Ukraine improves its position before peace negotiations take place.”
An overall match that obviously also projects towards Washington: in this case the messenger is Olaf Scholzwho phoned Trump yesterday. “The war has lasted too long”, the chancellor and the tycoon apparently agreed, according to a note from the German government. On
Again an echo in Brussels in Zelensky’s words: “Trump is a strong person, it is important that he is on our side and helps us stop the war.” At the same time, the man from Kiev needs to reiterate what the tenant of the Kremlin is made of. “He’s dangerous for everyone. I think he’s crazy and I think he also knows he’s crazy and that he loves to kill – he thrusts the blow –. He wanted to deprive us of our future, of our independence, to take away our army: but this is not an agreement” .
At the same time, if the EU tries to show cohesion regarding support for Ukraine, in practice things become more difficult. The conclusions adopted at the end of the European Council speak of “unwavering commitment to provide continuous political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as necessary”. The fact is, however, that there does not yet appear to be an agreement on the question of the interposition force. Many of the leaders who arrived in Brussels approach the issue with caution. “They want to see how the discussion on a possible truce goes and what the developments are on the ground,” it is whispered behind the scenes in Brussels. In short, the path to a negotiation has perhaps opened. But it remains impervious. And everyone knows this, in Brussels as in Washington, in Berlin as in Kiev.
